Growth and recruitment of freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) as related to long-term temperature patterns
Pereira, D.L., C. Bingham, G.R. Spangler, Y. Cohen, D.J. Conner, and P.K. Cunningham. 1993. Growth and recruitment of freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) as related to long-term temperature patterns. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.
Abstract
Freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) in the Red Lakes, Minnesota, exhibit slow growth and episodic recruitment. Periods with no apparent recruitment are as long as 10 yr. Using sagittal otoliths, we constructed a growth history dating from 1878 to the present. The prominent, extant year-classes include 1955, 1970, and 1983. Spectral analysis indicates a dominant periodicity in otolith growth of 7 yr. Otolith growth is more closely correlated with summer than winter temperatures, and year-classes are formed in years with warm summers. Otolith growth was not related to the southern oscillation, though superposed epoch analysis indicates a possible linkage between these two variables. Dynamics (i.e. recruitment and otolith growth) of freshwater drum in Blackduck Lake, Minnesota, were quite similar to dynamics in the Red Lakes. In Blackduck Lake, the 1970 cohort was the only year-class detected from 1975 through 1991; growth of this year-class was correlated with growth of the same year-class from the Red Lakes. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that fish species located close to the northern limit of their range and with a wide latitudinal distribution may be candidates for indicators of climate change.